Meeting the Mental Health needs of: Children who’ve Experienced Abuse or Neglect

Clean uniform, a ready smile, no trouble in class. A child who's been abused or neglected can look fine and still be living with anxiety, flashbacks or the belief that it was their fault. Without support, that can follow them into adult life.

Working alongside your safeguarding procedures, you'll learn eight ways to support the mental health side. One is making sure each child has a trusted adult, who might be someone from outside school. Another is noticing which books a quiet pupil keeps borrowing from the library. The NSPCC's scale (doing OK, struggling, unwell, in crisis) gives you a simple way to track how they're coping. There's also advice on working with families without judgement, with resources like the NSPCC's Pantosaurus materials for parents.

The adults matter too, and there are five ways to look after colleagues who hear these disclosures.